Gov. Mike Kehoe has a wish list of plans to concentrate on in the upcoming Missouri legislative session: public safety, economic development, and childcare access. Kehoe, a Republican, said his office plans to roll out a second public safety proposal as well as a dramatic proposal for economic development.
“Several things that will continue in the public safety realm,” Kehoe told Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph. “As you know, that was a big push for us last year. We’ve got kind of a ‘Safer Missouri 2.0’ for next year, economic development issues that we have. The main one of those will be we’ll be presenting a proposal to eliminate the Missouri state income tax.”
Kehoe said he understands some worry what such a proposal could do to funding state government.
“We’ll do it in a responsible way. We’re not going to be like Kansas where we just, nothing against them, but their plan didn’t work so well. And I think we’ve got a well more thought out plan,” he said.
Kehoe claims revenue from other taxes could replace the revenue lost by eliminating the state income tax.
The governor also wants to see a proposal pass this year to expand childcare statewide. It is sponsored by Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph.
“Well, Representative Shields has been a rock star in childcare. And we’ve gotten a few pieces through last session, but there’s some more work to do. We’ll continue to push that very hard because it’s a big piece of our workforce issue. We have a lot of parents staying at home that are qualified and want to work, but they can’t because of lack of childcare,” said Kehoe.
The Missouri House has passed Shields’ child care package the past few years, but the Senate has not.
The legislative session begins January 7 in Jefferson City.
By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph
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